We've moved!

After three years of Blogger posts on Minneapolis and Chicago Career Girl, we're moving on to bigger things! From the blogs has been born a national online media platform, Career Girl Network.

Come with me to www.careergirlnetwork.com where you'll find news from around the web, the career journeys of the Career Girl Founder and CEO and other influential women around the world, tips and tricks to get ahead in business, and much more. Stay with us as we expand and grow.

Minneapolis Career Girl Recommends: The Stir

From time to time, Career Girl Blogs love to bring you great events to attend and increase your professional network. In Minnesota, for women, there is no better event than "The Stir", the Women's Foundation of Minnesota's Annual dinner, bringing together some of Minnesota's most influential business-women.

This year's event will be held on Thursday, March 8th. It's absolutely worth the price of the ticket and with this year's inspiring speaker, Lee Woodruff, you're sure to enjoy the evening.

Click here for tickets, and to learn more about the Women's Foundation of Minnesota.

Handling Saboteurs

Well here you are, January 2nd. How's that resolution working for you two days in? Thus far, we've covered setting goals, visualizing success, preparing for possible failure, and rewarding yourself along the way. What's left is realizing that this journey is not going to happen in a bubble, and unfortunately, other people will set you off course. And again, unfortunately, some of those people will try to sabotage your goals.

We all have that friend. The one who says, "Oh my god, are you still counting calories? How much could a cookie really hurt you?" Or that person in our office who always brings the sweets to the table? It's hard to say no, right? They don't mean to sabotage you. Or do they? People who look at others' goals negatively are those who are having a difficult time setting their own. This is a fact. Do not let them get in your way.


Here are a few statements that work for me:

• Thank you for your feedback, but I'm dedicated to meeting my goal.
• Perhaps it would be best if I went on this journey on my own.
• I appreciate you.
• What goals have you set recently that I can help you achieve?

Be supportive of this person, and be supportive of yourself. Know that their attempts at sabotage are likely anger, fear, and jealousy of your progress and dedication. Let them know you care and that you appreciate their presence in your life. But know, too, that sometimes these are the people you most need to let go of in your life. No one needs chronic saboteurs in their daily routine.

Build in Rewards

Next in our series about New Year's resolutions is something I'm personally passionate about - Build in Rewards!


Theoretically, you've set a goal it will take you some time to achieve - maybe the whole year, maybe a few months, but it will have a beginning, a middle, and likely an end. Don't wait until the end to see the reward. Of course, accomplishing your goals is your greatest reward, but you have to have incentive to continue as well.


I recently heard of a sales person paid on commission who received none of that commission until the end of the year. What a terrible incentive. If you can't see the reward coming week to week or month to month, why keep going? Most people don't have the patience or time to wait a year for results or to wait a year to feel rewarded for the work they do. Would you take a job if they paid your entire salary on December 31st? Then don't do it to yourself either.


Set healthy, clear rewards for yourself. Here are a few examples of how I do this in my life and how I'll stick to it for my New Year's resolutions:

• I love bagels. They are a huge treat for me. And breakfast is often a difficult thing to stick to in my life. I'm known for skipping it all together, which is terrible for my metabolism, or grabbing something sweet or unhealthy in its place. So I use bagels as a weekly breakfast reward. If I eat a healthy breakfast Monday through Thursday, then on Friday, I treat myself to a bagel for breakfast. Perfect!
• When trying to save for a big trip or pay down debt, I recognize that some things have to have an unlimited budget. I love to read, but I don't get a lot of time to do it, so when I have some time, my Nook account has an unlimited budget. I will never deprive myself of buying a book - or five! It's a great reward for saving money other places and a way to keep some "me time" on the books.
• Give yourself the ability to buy/implement tools that will help you meet your goals. I just spent what is probably a stupid amount of money on a planner from ErinCondren.com. Did I need the $50 planner vs. a $10 one from Target? No. But still. It will help me log my progress on my goals and it's what I need. Don't feel bad for buying things that will help you get to the next step.

Maybe you're motivated by a massage or a new watch or a trip somewhere. Or maybe it's giving yourself a day off of work to relax and go to the movies. Whatever it is, set mini-goals, and reward yourself throughout the year for sticking with your plans. It will make all the difference!

Prepare for Failure

One of the biggest keys to success in keeping your New Year's resolutions is to understand you will fall off the wagon once or twice, maybe even a few times. To be realistically dedicated to your goals, you have to expect failure. Change is hard. If it were easy, everyone would be millionaires with perfect jobs, perfect bodies, and perfect lives. If you go into your goals knowing they will be difficult, knowing you'll skin your knees a few times in the process of achieving them, it will be much easier to stick with the process.

Some might argue I'm giving you a sense of negativity here, but I'm not. Preparing for failure doesn't mean being complacent in the idea of failure. You should hate failing. It should make you mad. And it should make you want to pursue your goals even more diligently. But preparing for it, talking about it openly, and knowing what it may look like for you are all reasons to keep you going in the long run.

I can certainly speak to the idea of failure in a weight loss journey. There are days that those frosted cookies just look too good to pass up. And there are weeks when you feel like you couldn't eat another damn vegetable if you tried. These are the days I fail in my journey. These are the days I forget my goals. But the key isn't in the failure, the key is in the rebound. People who lose sight of their goals have the mentality, "Well, I already failed, might as well continue to fail." However, those who prepare themselves for failure, know it's bound to happen at some time, will bounce back quickly, knowing that one day or one week does not damage a year of progress to your goals.

Expecting perfection is the shortest route to giving up. Set realistic expectations for yourself and know that you will fall down. Get back up, dust yourself off, and move forward. Even falling is a forward motion. Remember that, prepare for it, and you will get to your goals!

Visualizing Success

Close your eyes. Take a moment to think through your list of "This is the year..." items. Can you see yourself achieving those goals? Can you see yourself boarding a plane to go on that trip you've always wanted? Can you see yourself looking down at the scale and seeing a healthy, fit number? Can you see yourself taking a seat at that new desk in that new office?


Damnit, neither can I! Some people do wonderful things with those "close your eyes" directions. Some people can envision themselves anywhere. Apparently this Career Girl's imagination isn't so great. Whenever someone says, "picture yourself thin," all I can see is a photo of me in my 10th grade prom dress (yes, the one still hanging in the back of my closet waiting for me to be able to fit into it again). I don't see me now. I see some ancient persona I left long ago.


So how, then, do we visualize success for our 2012 goals? For me, the answer is the vision board. You don't have to close your eyes to see it. Pick up some magazines, cut out some pictures that inspire you to meet your goals, and put those photos up on your refrigerator or in your office or on your bathroom mirror. Let them be a constant visualization of your goals.


For me, I'm using my new favorite toy, Pinterest, to create my vision boards for the year. There, you can find photos and sayings that inspire you and "pin" them on a virtual board that gives you something to come back, look at, and get inspired by. You can access Pinterest on your internet enabled phone as well, which seems to act as a good motivator when I pull up my exercise pin board when on the treadmill. It reminds me of why I'm doing this every day.


So whatever works for you, do it! Maybe visualizing is writing it down, maybe it's cutting out photos, maybe it's finding thoughts and pictures online, or maybe it's as simple as closing your eyes. But if there's one thing I know for sure about goal setting, it's that being able to visualize the goal at its completion will get you far when it comes to sticking to it!

A Letter to Me...

Country singer Brad Paisley wrote a song recently called "Letter to Me." Its touching lyrics focused on what a grown man might say to his naive, younger self. And while the notion is tempting, clearly time travel just isn't possible. Or is it? Thinking about these lyrics, I remembered one of my favorite parts of the show The Biggest Loser. Somewhere in the beginning of the show, probably during auditions, the producers ask each of the contestants to say a few words to themselves as if they were in the final four. These are often the most touching words of the show to me. There sits someone dangerously obese, for the first time imagining they could be thin and healthy and talking to the person who did the work to make it happen.

When we're considering the work of New Year's Resolutions, we can take on the same challenge. Get out a piece of paper and date the top December 31, 2012. Then write, Dear Me. And go.

Write yourself a letter about all the good things you've experienced in 2012 as if you'd already lived it. Tell yourself what you're proud of accomplishing. Pat yourself on the back. Allow yourself to celebrate every moment of the success you wish to achieve. Think about what your family and friends might say if you achieved all of those things you wrote in yesterday's "This is the year" list. Write them in that letter, put it down on paper.

Then, just like the list, don't let the letter get tossed in a drawer. Keep it with you. Post it in your office or on your bathroom mirror. Let it be a constant reminder to you of how you want to feel at the end of 2012. Wouldn't it be amazing if all of those things happened? If your sheer will could get you everything you'd dreamed for in the year? And if on December 31, 2012 you could read that same letter with true meaning, knowing you'd accomplished all you'd set out to do? Strive for that feeling of accomplishment, for it will mean more to you than the 5 lbs or dollars saved ever will. Because we don't lose weight just to lose it or save money just to save it or change bad habits just to change them. We do it because it will change our lives, and it will give us increased joy and accomplishment with which to go forward into the year after and the next and the next.

Write that letter today, and keep it with you as you accomplish your goals in 2012.

Watch for tomorrow's post on visualization and more tips to keep your New Year's resolutions in 2012!